Huckabee Gearing Up for US Presidential Run: Does Adelson’s ‘Dirty Work’

Written by :

Gilbert Horowitz

Published on :

25 November, 2014

Fox News television host and 2008 US Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is reportedly preparing to run again in 2016.

The Washington Post first reported that the former Arkansas Governor is contemplating his options and Fox News followed up with an announcement that it was "evaluating his current status". Huckabee hosts a weekend program dealing with current affairs shot before a live studio audience.

Huckabee wasted little time in promoting at least one GOP megadonor’s agenda. At the top of the list, a ban on Internet gambling.

From Media Matters:

On his November 22 program, Huckabee hosted former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who is now a lobbyist for casino magnate Sheldon Adelson Las Vegas Sands corporation and a national co-chair for The Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG), which Adelson formed and bankrolls. The Washington Post recently described a ban on Internet gambling as "the item on top of Adelson's wish list."

RealClearPolitics reported in October that Adelson is perhaps "the most coveted man in Republican presidential politics" because of his large donations to Republican causes. Adelson is reportedly "weighing which Republican contender to patronize in 2016, and there is reason to believe he will consider Huckabee. The two men are friends and speak occasionally by phone."

If Huckabee wants to gain favors with Adelson, he certainly helped his cause during the Lincoln segment. Huckabee aired an anti-Internet gambling ad from CSIG, encouraged people to visit the group's website (which Fox displayed on-screen), and said anyone who doesn't support their efforts "should be thrown out" of Congress. Lincoln defended brick and mortar casinos as responsible institutions that contribute to the economy. Huckabee and Fox News did not mention Lincoln and CSIG's connections to Adelson during the segment.